Baked & Stuffed Artichokes

Artichoke season is starting! 

I cannot tell you how absurdly excited I am.  This is my favorite time of the year. Not because of the beautiful trees turning green and flowers blooming and long days so I can finally go outside and do fun things.

Because of the artichokes.

The glorious, much cheaper, gigantic, tasty artichokes!

Hoorah!

These artichokes are boiled and then stuffed with bread crumbs, vegan cheese, and herbs.  And then baked. 

Oh my gosh. 

serves 2
2 large artichokes
1 lemon, quartered
2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
1/2 C panko bread crumbs
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t dried thyme
1/3 C vegan cheese of choice (one that melts though!)
3 T sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 t olive oil

Trim your artichokes: cut off the top 1/3 of the leaves.  Then use a pair of scissors to cut the top off the remaining leaves.  Cut off the stem.  Then rip the bottom layer of leaves off.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add artichokes, lemon, and garlic.  Cover and reduce to a simmer.  Cook for about 30 minutes, until the artichokes are tender.  Test them by tugging at a leaf – it should be very easy to pull out. 

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Rinse artichokes under cold water until they are cool enough to handle.  Spread the leaves apart a bit so you can pull out the middle leaves and scrape out the choke in the center. 

Then in a small dish, mix together the bread crumbs, herbs, cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and oil.  Stuff the mixture into the middle of the artichokes.  Put into a baking dish (a loaf pan works nicely) and bake for about 10-15 minutes, until the bread crumbs are golden and the cheese is melted.

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories: 247; Calories from Fat: 61; Total Fat: 6.7g; Saturated Fat: 1.4g; Sodium: 423mg; Total Carbohydrates: 41.7g; Dietary Fiber: 11.2g; Sugars: 3.3g; Protein: 9.9g